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Facebook, Instagram may lose legal immunity over fake loan apps advertisements
Online companies like Facebook and Instagram have become an important way for fraudsters to distribute dubious loan apps to users as these platforms allow them to market such apps, for a fee, and only take them down once they are flagged by users. The Centre is considering legislative measures to prevent social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Instagram from hosting advertisements of fraudulent loan apps as it looks to curb the distribution of such apps on the Internet, a top government official said Tuesday. “We will amend the existing Information Technology Rules to prohibit intermediaries from hosting advertisements of fake loan apps,” Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters. Once the changes are in place, platforms could risk losing their legal immunity for hosting such advertisements. However, the amendments may not come into force before the General Elections later this year. Online companies like Facebook and Instagram have become an important way for fraudsters to distribute dubious loan apps to users as these platforms allow them to market such apps, for a fee, and only take them down once they are flagged by users. The Indian Express – in a two-part investigation published on November 20-21 last year – had reported how dubious loan apps advertise on Instagram and Facebook, and, despite whatever filters the platforms claim to use, many such apps, including those red-flagged by the government, continue to offer their services. Last month, the IT Ministry had issued an advisory to social media platforms to take “additional measures” to ensure that they don’t host advertisements of fraudulent loan apps, warning that the “consequences” will be the “sole responsibility” of such intermediaries/ platforms. Source - Mint
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